Key-locked fastening of attache cases and the like



C. W. CHENEY July 25, 1950 KEY-LOCKED FASTENING OF ATTACK-IE CASES ANDTHE LIKE Filed Feb. 14, 1947 1 Iv hHHWI I IH "I l 624mm Mil/14M Ham [yet/AW 9M Patented July 25, 195% KEY-LOCKED FASTENING OF A'r'rAo CASESAND THE LIKE ,.I Charles William Cheney, Hockley,Birmingh v I EnglandApplication February 14, 1947', Serial No. 72';7d5 I In GreatBritainFebruary 12, 1946 k Section 1, Public Law 690, August8, 154i;

Patent expires February 12, 1966 3 Claims. (01170-67) This inventionrelates to key-locked fastenings of attache cases, boxes, bags andtravel goods of the kind comprising a front plate, a back plate, adished and flanged spring-loaded bolt slidable between the front andback plates and a pivoted key-operated bolt-locking plate, said boltbeing adapted to be manually moved by a knob on the face of the frontplate in order that a hasp may be engaged with or disengaged from thebolt through an opening in the front plate.

Fastenings of this kind are necessarily manu- :l'actured on a massproduction basis in order to cope with the large demand, to ensure thatthey may be sold to case and travel goods manufacturers at keen andcompetitive prices, and more particularly, to make such goods availableto. the purchasing public at reasonable cost. In general, thesefastenings are mass produced on power and hand presses and assembled byunskilled labour,

and machine tool aspects that maximum productive efficiency be exercisedin order to reduce the number of process steps to a minimum, thus savingraw material, machine time and labour to utmost advantage which willultimately reflect upon the purchasing public by way of cheaper,

but equally efficient fastenings. It may be appreciated, therefore, thatapparent small changes in arrangement or construction of such fasteningshave an important bearing on the manufacparts of an annual output needto be blanked, raised, pierced, bent and assembled so that developmentresulting in. improvements in these fastenings mayeliminateone or moreprocess turing aspect, especially where millions of small' operationsand an inestimable saving in labour,

raw material and machine time be effected.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide improvements infastenings of this kind with a View to simplifying the construction andthereby obtain advantages in manufacture and assembly. 7 a

In fastenings according to' the invention, the spring for the bolt is ofa multi-lirnb arrangement and is held in the bolt by the flanges thereofand and it is most desirable from labour, raw material 2 5 According toanother feature of the invention, the multi-limb spring terminates in acurved portionadapted to .co-operate. with a snap nose on the lockingplate for efifecting a snap action when the locking platejiskey-operated into locking and unlocking positions so that the springperforms the dual function of spring-loading both the bolt and thelocking-plate. According to further constructional features, the pivotfor the locking plate and stops for controlling its angular movement areformed integral with the back plate. H

p .In order that the invention may be clearly understood'and readilycarried into effect, one em bodiment of the fastening will'now bedescribed with reference to log wherein: I

Fig; 1 is a topsideplan view of the fastening with thefront'platelremoved, the locking plate being shown in a positionresisting retraction of the bolt. h

, Fig. 2 .is a topside plan view of the back plate, the boltandspringunit and the locking plate .the annexed explanatorydrawbeingremoved. A v

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of Fig. 2 taken on the brokenline Fig.4and Fig. .5 show'respectively a plan and aside view of the lockingplate.'

Fig. 6 is an underside, plan of the bolt and spring unit. f g

. Fig. 7 is a transverse "section of Fig. 6 taken on the broken line bb.

Fig. 8 is a topside planofithe front plate I Figure 9 is a-section takenalong the line 0-0 of Figure l. d

In the draWing thei numeral l denotes a shallow sheet metal frontplate-provided with a hasp receiving slot 2 andan opening laforreceiving a slidable bolt-operating knob 35, 311, as shown in Figure 9;dis a, sheetmetal back plate, adapted to lie in and to be securelyattached to the front -plate and provided 'with integral penetratingprongs 40; for attachment ;o f- ;the fastening to a case vor thelike, ahasp vslot 5 and a recess 6 to accommodate a slidable sheet; metal boltl, which is adapted to be retracted by the operating knob 3 against theaction of a multi-limb spring 8, and to be locked in the shot positionby means of a revolubl locking plate 51, mounted in the recess 6 of theback plate 4, under control of a key inserted through the key hole I!)in the operating knob 3, 3a. l

A pivot-sleeve 12 is pierced or punched from the back plate 4 andconstitutes the axis for the revoluble locking plate 9, and two spaced 3stop lugs 13, 13a, are raised from this back plate for use incontrolling the angular movement of the locking plate 9 in itsbolt-locked and retractible positions. The sheet metal locking plate 9has a hole H3 which fits over the pivot-sleeve 12, two radiallyextending stop lugs 15, 150., a pair of key bit-engaging stumps l6 and asnap nose 11 formed integral with this locking plate. The bolt 1 isformed of sheet metal by pressing and has a peripheral flange l8 and aslot 19' through which the bit of a suitable key can engage the keystumps 16 on the locking plate 9 which lies in the recess and isinterposed between the bolt 1 and this recess 6. The belt I hasfa keypeg 1c which extends into the knob 3', 3a, as shown in Figure 9. A

On the bolt '1, rearwardly of its nose 1a, is an inwardly directed lug1b which is raised integrally on this bolt from an edge of the openingor slot I9 and this lug lb serves the dual purpose of locating one limb8a of the spring 8 andof forming an abutment for the snap nose H on thelocking plate 9, thereby to block retraction of the bolt '1 whenlocked.This lug lb safely locates the spring 8 so that it can be placed inposition in the bolt 1 by the fingers of the assembler and thebolt-spring unit I, 8, inverted and readily applied to the back plate Awithout risk of the s ring 8 becoming detached, thus facilitatinghandling and expediting assembly of the fasten-- ing. It will be seenthat the multi-limb wire spring 8 embodies a straight forward limb 8b,an inwardly turnedright angular limb 80, an

inner limb 8a parallel to the forward limb 8b and an approximatelysemi-circular end 8d projecting into the path of the snap nose I! of thelocking plate 9. The limbs 8b, 8c, are retained in the bolt 1 by thefi'anges 18 as also is the U- shaped bend 8e, and the limb 8a,- is heldby the lug 1b so that this spring is held in the bolt 1 in fourprincipal directions.

It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the locking plate 9 is" disposed withits snap nose l1 abutting against the lug lb which is integral with thebolt 1, thereby resisting retraction of the'bolt, the stop lug I5 on thelockingplate' lying againstthe lug 13 on the back plate 4, therebycontrolling angular movement of the locking plate 9 in a clockwisedirection. Turning of the locking plate 9 counter-clockwise, as seen inFig. 1, by means of a key engaging the key stumps 15', moves the snapnose [1 out of alignment with the lug lb, the nose I! snapping past thecurved part 8d of the spring when the other controlling lug 15a engagesthe lug I311. The bolt 1 can now be retracted against the action of thespring 8. Turning the plate 9 clockwise, as seen in Fig. 1, by means ofa key, will snap the nose I! in a return movement past the curved hump8d in the spring, again positioning the nose H in locking positionbehind the lug 1b. a

The slidable bolt operating knob comprises two members 3, 3a with thepart 3a formed of a circular plate member, slightly dished, and havingthe keyhole it, with the peripheral edge of the 4 0 plate turned in andpressed into a circular opening formed in part 3. This plate hasintegral lugs 32) which extend through the opening in of plate 1- (seeFigure 9) and the openings "id of the bolt 1, and are bent over againstthe back wall thereof, as shown in Figure 9, to lock the assembly 3,30., l and 1 together.

What I claim is:

1. A key locked fastening device comprising a perforated front plate anda recessed back plate connected together, a pivot extending into saidrecess from said back plate, a peripherally flanged bolt slidable in therecess of the back plate, a locking plate seated in the recess formed bythe flanges of said bolt and pivoted on said pivot, a lug extending intothe recess of said bolt from the body thereof adjacent its forward endsubstantially midway between the sides of the bolt, a multi-limbedspring in the recess of said bolt supported under pressure between theportion of said flange at the forward end thereof and said lug, saidbolt having an opening in the body thereof and said locking plate havingprojections forming key bit engaging studs projecting through saidopening and into said perforation on" said front plate, a key peg onsaid bolt adjacent said studs on said locking plate, said locking platehaving a nose engageable with said lug to prevent relative movementbetween said locking plate and bolt, thereby locking said bolt, saidlocking plate being rotatable on its pivot to swing said nose out of thepath of said lug and into engagement with said spring whereby relativemovement between said locking plate and said bolt is obtained againstthe pressure of said spring, said bolt being slidable by means of a boltoperating knob fastened thereto over said perforation in said frontplate, said knob enclosing said key peg and key bit engaging studs.

2. A key locked fastening device according to claim 1, in which the bolthas a hasp engaging portion, and said portion, the bolt lug, the pivotfor the locking plate and the key peg are arranged substantially along amedial line extending longitudinally of the bolt.

3. A key locked fastening device according to claim 1 in which saidpivot extends into the opening in said bolt, said bolt being freelyslidable with respect thereto in the lock.

CHARLES WILLIAM CHENEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flleofthis patent:

